A good night’s rest from a comfy mattress and waking up to complete silence was something that the Spartan had to admit was quite a luxury in this world. The only way his awakening could be made even better was if he had a giant bowl of broth with several platters of roasted meat, all with a giant pitcher of fine wine to down such a fine meal.
Unfortunately, he would have no choice but to suffer his stomach growling and his throat feeling parched, as there was no food and water in this establishment. Which meant that he and his associate would have to venture out into the town to try to find supplies to rest up and have a moment to recover before moving on.
However, he had a problem. Before coming to this town, he had some confidence in the Crusader as he had proven to be a good fighter as well as having a decent head on his shoulders when it came to combat. However, after that disastrous showing yesterday, doubts had begun to form in his head.
What if that man ends up ruining things for me? I don’t know if I could truly trust him anymore, that fear of his the other day was quite worrying. If he was to panic at every single so-called cursed area, then what reassurance was there that he didn’t turn on me out of a twisted idea of being a good man?
He shook his head. What was wrong with him? It had only been a day when his associate showed a single moment of weakness, and here he was, treating that as though it were an absolute truth. No, he knew exactly why: this was not the way his people would have reacted to such harsh conditions.
The Spartan people were a proud bunch, those that were formed from the best of the best. All of them trained every day to be the finest warriors to defend their homeland from the Greeks and any other possible threats. After all, they were soldiers of war and that was what they were made and bred for.
To endure any situation, no matter how hopeless the events turned out to be. To keep on fighting to the last breath no matter what faced their way. Yes, being a Spartan warrior was a title that could be worn with pride, and nothing could take that away from him.
Except that isn’t true, right? A traitorous small voice whispered in his head, You did something that proved you aren’t worthy of such a task. You are nothing more than a coward, a spineless bastard that has one single regret that reins in on your life forever and ever. You ran away from your duty and–
He breathed and stomped out of the room. He took the stairs down and entered the restaurant area, before going to one of the chairs and slamming his own body down onto it. Those actions helped to get his mind off of the lie that had been settling in his mind, though he couldn’t help but growl as he held his head in his hands.
What was wrong with him? Why was he reminiscing over his life’s regret for no inherent reason? He hadn’t thought about his mistake ever since he came to these lands, why was this happening now in this forsaken town?
Perhaps this was all the effects of the fog. Maybe this was the effect of some mastermind monster that was more than capable of casting a long range demoralization field that was bringing him down. Whatever the case was, he wasn’t going to allow himself to get distracted by this constant thought.
He took a deep breath, before exhaling through his nose. He did this for a bit of time until that incessant feeling of regret escaped his body and he was finally able to get his mental faculties back in check.
With that done, he stood up and went upstairs to the Crusader’s room. He went ahead and knocked on the door and within seconds his associate came out. Despite all the metal armor that was covering his body and facial features, he seemed almost relieved and refreshed. Perhaps that amazing mattress truly did help his associate’s mind recover.
“Are you ready to go?” The Spartan asked, to which his associate simply nodded and gave off a slightly smug aura.
“I’m fully ready. Let’s go hunting.”
To that, the two of them headed out. They got to the door that acted as the last bastion of their sanctuary, which had not been tampered with in any shape or form. In fact, the entryway was the exact same as they had left it previously, pristine and without a single piece of damage. A miracle considering the massive din that had occurred outside.
So that must mean the squabble never extended to the buildings. While that was quite bizarre, the Spartan certainly wasn’t going to complain. He put his hand on the door and opened it in such a slow and cautious pace that no squeaking could be heard.
Once again, they were greeted by a huge swarm of fog. However, there were no signs of any monsters out in the streets, leaving behind the empty stone streets. Their vision was cut down by this immense blockade, but as there were no dangerous opponents out, this meant that they could simply stick to stealth to try to obtain some food and water.
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He went ahead and gestured to his associate to follow, before moving onwards into the streets. When his feet reached the stone path, he activated his divinity and extended the distance of his detection as far as he could reach.
There would definitely be a lot of recoil from such a move. Something like this could possibly be detrimental and even dangerous down the line. However, with the fog ruining any capability of doing a true scouting mission as well as the possible swarm of monsters that roamed around this town, he needed to use every advantage he had.
His mind opened. He became aware of his surroundings, and bit by bit that knowledge expanded. He could track all the monsters that were out in the streets and those that were waiting within the buildings for some random schmuck to walk in and get ambushed. There were all sorts of interesting landmarks, but more importantly, he found a well nearby that did have a good reserve of water remaining within.
He ran through all the paths that could lead them to their destination. There were five different ways to get there: one through several buildings, one going through the main street, one going through the spaces between the structures, one that utilized going up one of the buildings and jumping through the roofs, and the last one required them to go back inside and sneak out through some other street.
Each of them had a good number of monsters they would need to clear out. There were five different types that he had found so far, each of them different and unique in their shape and form. Though, there were two of them that were roaming around that the Spartan had to admit he truly did not want to deal with at this point in time.
One of them was similar to a mixture of a lizard with giant teeth that might as well be swords with four arms that all had giant claws on the end. The reason why he wanted to avoid them was simply due to the fact that they all seemed to have some sort of fiery circle that floated above their heads, this thing following them wherever they went. He didn’t know what that could mean, but he knew for certain that having such a feature meant they had special abilities of some sort that would make battling them so difficult it might just not be worth the conflict.
The other was a gigantic hulk of a bastard, one that had gigantic thick scales that covered all over its body. This thing didn’t have a mouth or a head, but an opening in its neck that made him concerned about what would necessitate the removal of such a vital organ. The other problem was the strange shimmer that covered them completely. Once more, something he didn’t know what that did, but that certainly didn’t have any good connotations to it.
But that was easy. He could create a mapped path that would avoid dealing with those two things, at least until he and his associate got some food and water into them.
That’s good. We’ve got water dealt with now. The problem that still exists was the food. I could probably deal with biting down and devouring those monsters even if they seem quite vile in appearance, there truly is no better way. But now the question is how do I get my associate to eat? He’ll definitely put up a fight, that much was for sure.
He looked back at his associate, who seemed anxious yet eager to continue onwards. He couldn’t help but groan internally as he realized he was going to have to wrangle this Crusader to eat something, even if such an act would be ‘blasphemous’. This wasn’t something that he wanted to do, a grown man should get rid of his pickiness after all, but this was a necessity.
The Spartan needed the assistance to deal with whatever came his way. He knew that the path forward required allies to cover bases. That was why, despite his desire to not have to associate so much with this man, he had to keep him around for his safety.
Simply meaning, he’d have to figure out a way to get the man to eat the monsters. Though that was something he could deal with later, especially when he was still trying to path the most optimal way to get to the well. He let his divinity go for a little bit longer, before gritting his teeth as the recoil started to kick in. He couldn’t hold his divinity active anymore and thus powered it down, but not before remembering the path forward.
Then the backlash hit him all at once and he got to one knee. He could feel his body boiling and growling with pain. His stomach started to scream for sustenance and his muscles were starting to burn. That being said, none of this was debilitating, only annoying.
He took a deep breath before moving forward. His associate followed right behind as they headed towards one of the buildings on the street, the one that had the entryway to the roof.
The structure had a total of eight monsters dwelling within, waiting to ambush whoever came in. The architecture was something that the Spartan had to admit was quite new to him, and he did not know any good way to describe the layout, only a collection of cubes and triangles that came together to make a standing building.
Whatever the case, none of that really mattered. What was important was that they got to the rooftops and jumped across to the well. That way, they avoided all of those monsters on the streets and provided them with a good sniper position for the Crusader to wipe out the monsters nearby the well.
They all got to the door pretty easily. The Spartan put his left hand on the door and turned to his associate. He raised his other hand and gestured to the entryway, before making his thumb stuck out and swiped across his throat.
The Crusader blinked. He looked confused for a moment, before finally understanding the meaning behind such a motion. With that, he got his sword ready and prepared to stab forward the moment the Spartan opened the door.
He closed his eyes. He counted to three. Then, he opened them wide and threw the door wide open.
A small gremlin monster with frog legs and crooked arms rushed forward towards the two with clear joy in its face. All of that got wiped out the moment his associate stabbed right into the freak’s gut and sliced downwards, bisecting the being completely and making it return to dust and bone.
They cleared the first obstacle. Now they had to deal with the remaining seven without making any noise.
A simple task.